Sonoma woman’s death under investigation

Sonoma County sheriff’s detectives are investigating the apparent shooting death of a Sonoma woman, reported as a suicide late Monday night following an argument between the woman and her boyfriend.

The victim, Colleen G. Ramirez, 53, was found dead in her Pueblo Avenue home after police were alerted by an 11 p.m. 911 call that she had shot herself, said Sonoma Police Chief Bret Sackett.

Officers found her body in her bedroom and it appeared she’d died from a gunshot wound, Sackett said in a news release. A handgun was nearby.

Ramirez lived in the home with her adult daughter and an adult man, a housemate. Ramirez’s boyfriend, 49-year-old Salvador Loera Escobedo of Vallejo, was also there.

They were all cooperating with the investigation and told officers the couple had argued before heading for bed, the chief said. Detectives were called to the home to investigate the death, which is standard when there is a question regarding circumstances.

Officers detained Escobedo to question him for the investigation. He was arrested on an unrelated misdemeanor warrant, booked into Sonoma County Jail and later released on bail. He was not considered a suspect, said Sgt. Cecile Focha, the Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman.

While nobody is suspected of wrongdoing at this point, Sgt. Shannon McAlvain said his detectives were continuing to investigate because “there’s some questions we need to answer before we can clear it.”

An autopsy was completed Tuesday afternoon but the Sheriff’s Office did not release the preliminary results.

Chief Sackett asked anyone with information that would aid the investigation to contact McAlvain at 565-2185.